Monday, August 15, 2011

Wizard Chicago 2011: Pictures of Groo

One great thing about attending conventions for me is the chance to obtain more entries in my sketchbook, which bears the theme of what might be my all-time favorite comic, Sergio Aragones' Groo. Here's what I came home with this year:

Pia Guerra did a nicely cartoony depiction of both Groo and Rufferto. I especially like Groo's hands and feet here.

Tom Scioli added his own particular style to his drawing. Interestingly, he mentioned recently thinking about Groo when trying to come up with other non-serious barbarian comics like his webcomic American Barbarian.

Mike Norton did a sort of super-deformed Groo, then surrounded him with foliage, which was especially fascinating to watch him draw, as he seemed to nonchalantly wave a brush pen around the page and ended up with all that moody shrubbery. When his tablemate commented on that, he said it was because he felt bad about the poor drawing (nonsense, says I!) and wanted to add value, or something.

Sean Dove contributed a wonderfully cartoony depiction of Groo. I really like this one, especially the facial expression.

Lilli Carre did this one, which might be one of my favorites ever, just for the humor. Also, she didn't do any underdrawing, just laid the whole thing down in ink without any room for error. Color me impressed.

Finally, Jeremy Tinder did this goofy pose. After finishing, he said, "I don't know what he's doing. Yoga, I guess." I love it.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of getting these sketches. I just love watching the artists do their thing, seeing all the different techniques and ideas and marveling at the skill as they manage to turn a blank page into a fun image in a matter of minutes. Even if I can't really make art, I can sure appreciate it.